West Virginia is one of a handful of states that have banned payday loans. So when lenders use the Internet to do business with residents of that state, the state's attorney general goes to court.
West Virginia Attorney Darrell McGraw has filed suit, asking the Court to order the eight companies, which have refused to cooperate with his investigation, to surrender the records of their West Virginia-based accounts and to halt lending activities in the state.
Payday loans are high-interest loans or cash advances with interest rates that reach as high as 600-to-800 percent APR. The loans, typically made for 14 days, are secured by a post-dated check or an agreement authorizing electronic debits from the consumer's checking account.
"When a company sets foot in West Virginia, whether in person or over the Internet, my office has a duty to ensure the enterprise complies with state law," McGraw said. "Any company that makes payday loans must halt its usurious business and produce records identifying its victims."
The companies and principals sued by Attorney General McGraw's
office are:
• Payday Loan Resource Center LLC and Moe Tassoudi of Scottsdale, AZ;
• DirectROI d/b/a Cash West Payday Loans and Mike Brewster of Chandler, AZ;
• First American Credit;
• LoanPointe LLC, Joe E. Strom, Benjamin J. Lonsdale, James C. Endicott and Mark S. Lofgren of Highland, UT;
• Eastbrook LLC d/b/a Ecash and GeteCash of Provo, UT;
• National Title Loans d/b/a National Cash 12 of Elsmere, DE;
• Payday Financial LLC d/b/a www.LakotaCash.com and Martin Webb of Timber Lake, SD;
• Payday Loans-ACH d/b/a www.ACHLoans.com of Emeryville, CA.
End run
McGraw says Payday Loan Resource Center attempts to circumvent state law by charging West Virginia customers a monthly fee to help them obtain Internet payday loans. A suit filed earlier this year by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Ecash and GeteCash with attempting to garnish wages without a court order. Lakota Cash claims to be an Indian tribe and therefore not subject to the laws of any state.
Since McGraw began investigating the industry in 2005, his office has reached settlements with 107 Internet payday lenders and their collection agencies, resulting in $2,452,979.87 in refunds and canceled debts for 8044 West Virginians.
"Payday loans are predatory traps for the many West Virginians facing difficult times," McGraw said. "We will continue to ask the courts to intervene whenever companies refuse to cooperate with our efforts to protect West Virginia citizens."
